Combined shade support and stop



June 4, 1940. i w LANG 2,203,161

' COMBINED SHADE SUPPORT AND STOP Filed Sept. 17, 19sa INVENTOR. GeorgeWilliam Lang ATTORNEY.

disengaged.

Patented June 4, 1940 I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFlCE Y 2,203,161

COMBINED SHADE SUPPORT AND STOP I u George William Lang, New York, N. Y.

Application September 17, 1938, Serial No. 230,348

1 Claim.

This invention relates to shade supports-and is directed moreparticularly to an improved construction whereby the shade spring isprecluded from unrestricted unwinding in the event that the shade isinadvertentlyreleased during the manual raising or lowering of the same.

As is well known, the conventional'shade roller is provided therein witha spring secured to a squared trunnion through an associated pawl andratchet which causes the spring to be energized when the shade is drawndownwardly, whereby the spring will effect an automatic winding of theshade when the pawl and ratchet are The shade is normally operatedthrough any appropriate form of shade pull and it is not uncommon forthis shade pull to be released before the pawl and ratchethave beenproperly-engaged. As a result the spring rapidly.

acts to unwind with not infrequent damage to the shade; In, order thatthe structure may be thereafter made operative, it is necessary todisengage the shade from its brackets and manually re-energize thespring.

These conditions have long been recognized and numerous attempts havebeen made to efiect -a satisfactory solution of this widespreadnuisance. Such prior attempts have been directed mainly along twodistinct lines. The first is typified by theassociation of shadebrackets with a and extending the full width .of the window and from onebracket to the other and which rod carries a device for arresting theunwinding move- .ment of the spring. -These constructions have not beenfavorably. received because they are bulky and expensive,undulyencumber. the window frame and do not satisfactorily function forthe purposes intended. The other type of con- 5 ruction which has beentried. is characterized by the formationof a bifurcated or forked armadaptedto straddle one orboth edges of the shade :to form apositiverstop when engaged by the hem which extends across the bottom ofthe shade and in which the stiffening stick is enclosed. Theselatter-constructions.act directly upon the edge of the shade and thehem. They fray the shade edge and, after a few operations,'tear the hemor break the stitches which hold the hem in place. shade construction.

Other. arrangements have been suggested but the structure of all of themis such that they materially damage the shade or force it out of shapewhen in use.

The present invention, in contradistinction, is so constituted that inthe ordinary operation of In operation they are destructive to the (Cl.l56- 24) va shade the means which guards the spring from unrolling iswholly free from contact with the shade and does not come intoengagement therewith except when the shade is inadvertently released.Then a smooth facial braking surface is presented to the hem portion ofthe shade where it is backed up by a shade stiffening stick and the hemand stick are caused to come into wedging engagement between a fiatsurface and the already wound portion of the shade, to give a softcushioning effect which brings the shade and roller to a cushioned stopthrough a wedging engagement which does not place undue strains on anypart of the, construction and does not tend to wear or mar the shade inany way.

I The structure of the present invention is, moreover, such that'it isextremely economical to manuiacture, can be installed by theuninitiated, requires no adjustment and embodies no moving parts. Itcannot possibly get out of order, is not unsightly in appearance and isnot even no,-- ticeable when associated with a shade installation.

The present invention, generally speaking, is characterized by theassociation directly with each shade bracket by an inclined brakingflange arranged to lie in a plane substantially tangent to thecircumference of a wound shade, but spaced therefrom a sufiicientdistance so as not to ordinarily contact therewith, but suflicientlyclose so as to leave less space between the flange and the shade thanthe thickness of the shade stick.

This flange is relatively rigid, is mounted rigidly in place and formswith the shade roller an angle er detailed description and claim whenread in.

conjunction with the accompanying drawing.

The accompanying drawing illustrates one practical embodiment of theinvention, but the construction therein shown is to be understood asillustrative only, and not as defining the limits of the invention.

Figure 1 is a perspective view looking at the inside of the window with.a shade attached thereto by the construction of the present invention,

as applied to inside brackets. In this view certain parts of the windowframe, as well as parts of the shade construction, are broken away inthe interest of clearness.

Figure 2 is a section on the line 22 of Figure 1, showing the shadeassociated with the fixture, but with the window frame omitted.

Referring to the drawing, l designates a conventional window frame, 2 ashade roller of usual form with associated internal spring and 3 theshade mounted on the roller and provided at its free end with a stick 4housed within the hem 5. The roller has a circular trunnion at one endand a squared trunnion 6 at its other end. The shade pull is indicatedat I These parts are all conventional and form no part of the presentinvention except as associated with the devices presently to bedescribed.

The present invention consists in the use of brackets of novel andunique construction. These brackets are made in pairs with a right and aleft toeach pair. Each of said brackets embodies a flat plate 8perforated with holes 9 and It for the passage of attaching nails orscrews whereby the brackets may be attached to the inner edges of theframe I to mount them rigidly in place thereon. These plates 8 are eachprovided with a stamped up boss l I in which the hole for the shadetrunnion is formed. The hole at the right is circular to receive thecircular trunnion of the shade, while the hole l2 at the left is in thenature of a bayonet slot to receive the squared trunnion 6. This isconventional construction and differs therefrom only in the shape of theplate 8 which, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, is made to extend in anoutward direction and is bent over to form an inclined flange IQ, thelower edge of which is curved upwardly as indicated at 13. The plate 8is so proportioned as to locate the flange I4 in a plane substantiallyparallel to the axis of the roll 2 and substantially tangent but spacedslightly from the outer circumference of the fully wound shade as shownbest in Figure 2. The flange I4 is thus at right angles to and integralwith the flat plate 8 which forms the body of the fixture so that, whenthe bracket is nailed in place, the flange Hi is in proper cooperativerelation to the shade to be supported by the bracket. The inclinedrelation of the flange presents a flat surface to the hem of the shadewhen the shade is fully rolled as shown in Figure 2 and said surfaceextends for an appreciable distance along the shade, so as to giveadequate frictional contact therewith and thus distribute wearthroughout the surface of the hem, whereby it is not localized in a wayto cause damage.

When the parts are assembled, they appear as shown in Figure 2 fromwhich it is clear that the circumference of the wound shade and theunder surface of the flange I l present a reentrant angle adapted toreceive the shade stick without any localization of wear. As the shadeis more or less soft when Wound up on the roll, the shade stick whenentering this angle receives a pronounced cushioning, so that it isbrought to a cushioned stop and does not come to a. quick non-yieldingstop as in some of the arrangements hereto-fore suggested and whichcause j appreciable damage to the shade construction.

With my arrangement the edge of the shade is free from wear. Thestitches which. hold the hem in place are likewise free from wear andthe cushioning stop brought about through the operation of thisinvention is such asto save'the shade structuraas well as the springconstruction of the roller from undue strains.

It will be apparent from the foregoing detailed description that theshade bracket, when mounted in position on the window frame, has rigidlyattached thereto a flat inclined flange substantially tangential to thewound shade and parallel to the axis of the shade roller to form, withthe wound shade, the re-entrant angle in which the shade stick iscushionably received when the shade is inadvertently released.

' An important feature ofthe present invention resides in the markedeconomy of its fabri cation, for it may be manufactured by simple dieoperation in quantity production at low costs. The finished structuresmay be mounted on a window frame as simply as the ordinary shadebrackets and without added cost or labor.- Thestructure will lastindefinitely and will not impose noticeable Wear on the shade. Underordinary conditions of operation the shade does not even touch thebraking flange and only engages therewith when the shade isinadvertently released and rendered responsive to the spring of theroller. l

The device of the present invention may be convenient in manufacture tostamp up the parts,

which I have hereinbefore described, from sheet upstanding face abuttingrelation to and on the inner edge of a window frame, an integralperforated boss stamped up from said plate to receive and support ashade trunnion, and a stop flange integral with said plate and formed bybending a portion of the width of the plate into inclined right angularrelation to the frame abutting portion of the plate and into substantialtangency with the contiguous end portion 'of a wound shade supported bythe bracket to form with said shade are-entrant braking angle, with saidstop flange overlying the contiguous end of the shade and terminatingshort of theopposite end thereof.

GEORGE WILLIAM LANG.

inade of any appropriate materials whether they be metallic, plastics orotherwise, but I find it

